REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — The citizens of this border city who lived through years of violence are now facing a series of kidnappings as cartel members look to diversify their income sources. The victims in the recent kidnappings are not personally linked to organized crime but appear to be average citizens–primarily women.

A Mexican woman has been sent to prison for her role in the kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Texas who were then taken to Mexico for ransom. Five cartel gunmen ambushed their victims outside of a restaurant in Laredo, Texas, during the kidnapping. The woman had been providing information on the victims.

A group of people kidnapped an Arizona man and planned to cross him into Mexico in the trunk of a car. The plot exemplifies the ongoing ruthless cartel activity that continues to reign along the U.S.-Mexico Border.

APATZINGAN, Michoacan — The kidnapping of a local man cleaning a sidewalk by cartel gunmen reveals the level of impunity criminal organizations enjoy in the Mexican state of Michoacan. While government officials try to push an image of safety, cartel gunmen grab innocent victims and carry out battles for local control, killing dozens per week.

One of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels began carrying out ransom kidnappings in Mexico while collecting ransom in Texas. Mexico’s Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) is apparently setting up kidnapping and drug trafficking operations in the Lone Star State to solidify power.

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Coahuila — Cartel gunmen in this border city continue kidnapping groups of migrants looking to make their way into Texas. The attackers demand hefty ransoms and threaten to murder their victims if families to not adequately respond.

MONTERREY, Nuevo León — More than seven months have passed since a group of friends traveled from this metropolitan city to Reynosa, Tamaulipas, to cross into Texas for a shopping trip. The group went missing upon their return.

MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas — Despite the raging cartel violence that continues to take place in the border state of Tamaulipas resulting in ransom kidnappings, highway robberies, shootouts, and gory executions, a local chamber of commerce is not giving up its effort to promote the region for tourism and investment.

GOMEZ FARIAS, Tamaulipas — Human rights activists searching for cartel victims found an extermination field used by Los Zetas to bury and incinerate at least 500 near a UNESCO-protected ecological biosphere.

After years of living in fear from a Mexican drug cartel responsible for countless horrors, residents in the border city of Piedras Negras are no longer afraid to call out politicians with family ties to those criminal organizations.

SAN FERNANDO, Tamaulipas — Heavily armed criminals continue robbing and kidnapping unsuspecting motorists that travel along the state highways that connect the border region with the rest of the country. In one of the most recent cases, a group of gunmen attacked a married couple near this city.

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Tamaulipas — One of the key leaders with Los Zetas cartel has been arrested in this border state as part of an ongoing investigation into kidnappings and murders in this city. The man known as Comandante Cano has been singled out as one of the individuals primarily responsible for the ongoing wave of violence in the state.

The continuing cartel violence that has taken hold of this state took a disturbing twist when cartel gunmen added a Christmas flavor by leaving the body of one of their latest beheading victims next to a banner saying “Merry Christmas.”

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Coahuila — At least three passengers were taken off a bus at gunpoint by members of the Los Zetas cartel in this border city’s downtown area. The occurred in front of Mexican law enforcement buildings. The passengers have not been found.